


Better Than I Imagined

by mggislife2789



Category: Criminal Minds, Spencer Reid - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Colorblind Soulmate AU, F/M, Reader-Insert, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-18
Updated: 2017-06-18
Packaged: 2018-11-15 18:06:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11236374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mggislife2789/pseuds/mggislife2789
Summary: Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters or their original stories. This is only for fun. It's where my brain goes after the credits roll. No copyright intended. Better safe than sorry. ;)





	Better Than I Imagined

Day after day, year after year, Spencer was told that one day his day would come too. After all, his mother never expected her day to come, and then one day it did - in the most mundane of ways. Nearly four years earlier, Diana had been walking down the street to grab something to eat between her teaching classes at the University. As she entered the store, her vision remained the same, with various shades of black, white and gray - the only hues she’d ever known - plaguing her vision. She’d heard tell of land of color, where there were nearly as many shades as there were words, but she was convinced she’d never find that place. Then, as she left the store, a sandwich in her bag for after her next lecture, she bumped into a handsome stranger and from his being emanated a world of shades she never imagined she’d see.

Being the frank woman she was, she looked up into his eyes and said, “You’re my soulmate?”

“I guess I am,” he’d responded. 

And the rest was history. “Your day is coming soon, Spencer,” his mother said. “I can feel it.”

Spencer smiled at his mother from across the room. “You’ve been saying that for years, mom,” he said softly. He was getting ready to leave the facility where she’d been staying. For years, she’d been in Vegas, but recently, he’d had her transferred closer to him so that he could see her more often. “I’m 35 years old and I don’t feel any closer than I was ten years ago.”

“That’s the beauty of it,” she replied, standing up and caressing the side of her son’s cheek. “It’s not something you feel. It just happens. One day, you knock into someone and that’s it - your world brightens. Granted, your father and I aren’t together anymore, but I still see in color. A little more muted, but it’s still there, and it’s still beautiful.”

He could only hope that one day he’d experience what his mother had. As a man of science, it was difficult for him to understand something like this. “I hope so,” he responded. “I’ll see you soon, okay?” With a quick kiss on the cheek, he left her at the facility. It had been a good day; she’d been very lucid and very talkative.

Some people, like his mother, saw in color, and then it became muted because they’d separated. His friend JJ from the Bureau said she saw in what she called “a waterfall of color,” and Morgan hadn’t experienced it yet either. He’d been with plenty of ladies sure, but none of them had been the woman he’d end up with, at least according to his vision. Rossi, his superior, who’d had three separate marriages, and had seen brightly each time; but his vision, like his mother’s, muted upon separation. And perhaps most heartbreaking of all was his boss Aaron Hotchner, who saw in beautiful technicolor for the entirety of his marriage with Hayley, and then, when she was shot by George Foyet, Hotch’s vision had immediately turned to black and white; his soulmate had been taken away. Spencer always wondered what it would be like for someone to just be born seeing color. At least then, you wouldn’t be shockingly aware of when your soulmate died. Maybe it was better that way.

As he rounded the corner, he decided to grab a couple books from the library. He’d never seen in color, but when he read, he could imagine what the colors looked like from the words he read; they painted the canvas before his eyes. The minute he walked in, he saw the same beautiful girl at the counter. She’d always been very sweet to him, and more often than not, they’d talk for a bit about whatever book he happened to be checking out before he left. 

Sometimes he read the classics. Sometimes he read books in other languages. Sometimes he’d read whatever random book happened to be on the bestseller list, and more often than not, he was disappointed in those, but today he wanted a fairytale, so he reached up on the shelf for the collection of Hans Christian Anderson fairytales and another by The Grimm Brothers. 

With a strained smile, his brain running a million miles a minute, he walked over to the counter. “Hello, Y/N,” he said, handing over the two books along with his library card.

“In the mood for fairytales today I see.” Her smile shone bright. “I’m always in the mood for those. Still waiting for my own.”

“Really?” That took him by surprise. For some reason, he’d always imagined that she went home to a husband or wife at the end of the day despite the lack of a ring on her finger. He’d always imagined that she already saw the world for what it truly was.

Apparently, she wasn’t surprised by his assumption. “Yea. My parents have been together for nearly 35 years. Still happy and in love and seeing in that ever-elusive color I still haven’t experienced.”

“Me either,” he replied. “My mom claims my day is coming, but I think she’s just saying that to make me feel better.”

Y/N said her parents had been telling her the same thing for years, but no matter where she turned or the connections she made, no one “brightened her world” the way she’d always imagined. Apparently, some people went through life without one, but others found a friend that did what a partner didn’t. There were endless possibilities. 

As she handed him his library card, the tips of their pointer fingers touched. Spencer started to place the card back in his wallet when he noticed the floor, it was an almost rugged hue he’d never noticed before. Looking up, he took in the almost royal hue of the blouse she was wearing. It made him think of luxury. The skirt was a color he was all too familiar with, white, but everything around her was exactly as his mother had described - shades he’d never experienced before radiated outward. “Oh my god,” he laughed.

“Do you see what I see?” she asked hopefully, placing her hand on top of his. It was almost as if she was double-checking to see if what was happening was truly real. “We’re wearing the same color.” She pointed to his shirt, which he knew from the label was purple, but now he actually knew what purple was. 

For a few moments, they stood in silence, looking around each other and putting the names and colors together after 30 some odd years of only have a word, but not a visual for the hue. The woman who ran the library looked out with a smile. She and her husband had been married for 50 years, so she immediately noticed the look on her face. “Spencer?”

His eyes locked on hers and he took her hand. “My mom was right,” he said softly, the tears stinging his eyes in the most glorious way. “But you’re even more beautiful than I ever imagined.”

“Dinner tonight?” she asked, covering her mouth as she tried to make sense of all the color. 

He couldn’t form a coherent thought, so he just nodded his head and held her hand as she walked out from behind the counter and jumped into his arms. He’d waited so long for this day, when his world was changed forever. But as he wrapped his arms around her, he knew he would’ve gladly waited another 20 years for this moment. He’d imagined it every day, but this was more than his imagination ever could’ve dreamed up.


End file.
